REFRIGERANTS
Refrigerant retrofits
After the recent
Refrigerant Retrofitting webinar hosted by Climalife UK, we caught up with UK head of sales Dave Richards for his thoughts on market conditions and retrofit options for businesses ahead of the next major F-Gas step in 2021.
F
-Gas has been the main driver of change in our industry since the first legislation came into force in 2006. Since then there have been a number of restrictions and bans
on different types of equipment. The most recent ban was in January 2020 in relation to the use of virgin refrigerants with a GWP >2500 in stationary refrigeration systems with a charge over 40 CO2 equivalent tonnes. Whilst there are exemptions, the real barrier is the quota system which will have greater impact on the supply of higher GWP virgin refrigerants. The next F-Gas phase down step is just five months away in 2021 when the quota will be cut by a further 29% compared to this year’s allowance.
15 Year F-Gas Phase down plan There have been external forces relieving some of the pressure on quota recently, illegal product into parts of Europe has had an impact, and this year COVID-19 has temporarily reduced the demand for refrigerant taken from the quota system in some sectors.
The full effects of the quota system were felt in late 2017 and 2018, the last major drop in quota allowance with pricing rapidly increasing and some availability issues. Whether we will see a repeat of this situation in 2021 is difficult to predict, but history tells us of the importance of planning ahead. As for Brexit, there are still some unknowns, but at present it looks like the UK will not be part of the EU quota system but will have its own aligned quota system based on historical supply which will mirror the EU system with a cut in quota availability 2021. Retrofit overview and good practice Many people have been retrofitting systems where the refrigerant has a GWP >2500 and we encourage the market to continue change if they are not currently in a position to invest in new equipment that could use very low GWP
products.
Improved energy efficiency can often be realised from retrofitting R-404A and R-507 Dx systems to refrigerants such as R-448A and R-449A. In the short term retrofits are significantly cheaper than new equipment options and companies can reduce their CO2 footprint by replacing a high GWP refrigerant with a lower one, if leakage rates can also be reduced at the same time then the CO2 footprint is reduced even further.
R-404A/R-507A/R-422A dx – With R-404A and R-507 now banned in new equipment, R-448A and R-449A have widely been used in both new equipment and for retrofit. There have been many successful conversions of direct expansion (dx) and capillary systems over the last 5-6 years. Many supermarkets, industrial, light industrial and smaller hermetic systems have successfully been converted. R-448A and R-449A are proven options for most dx systems with usually a nominal adjustment of the expansion valve. Another solution, R-452A is the closest match to R-404A performance, discharge temperatures and mass flow, but its GWP means it should only be used where R-448A or R-449A cannot. This tends to be transport refrigeration, small hermetic and low temperature applications where the discharge temperature increase cannot be overcome by liquid injection or oil cooling. Compressor selection software is available on-line and can be used to check suitability.
R-407A and R-407F – R-407A and R-407F have themselves been used in new equipment and as a retrofit for R-404A. The GWP values of 2107 and 1825 respectively mean they are not banned under F-Gas, but quota
20 August 2020
www.acr-news.com
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